In Memoriam: Professor Janet Powell

Janet Powell 1945-2025.

Janet Powell, the clinical trial investigator who played a pivotal role in several landmark abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) studies, has died at the age of 79. She was a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London’s Department of Surgery & Cancer.

After obtaining a BSc in chemistry from the University of Oxford (1968) and a PhD in biophysics in London (1972), Powell moved to the USA to study medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine, graduating in 1981. She then returned to the UK to complete clinical training in pathology, specialising in cardiovascular risk.  

Professor Powell joined Imperial’s Division of Surgery in 1983 and held the position of Professor of Vascular Biology & Medicine from 1993-2000, before becoming a Visiting Professor.

As part of Imperial’s Vascular Surgery Research Group, Powell was involved in numerous clinical trials in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) management, including the UK Small Aneurysm Trial, EVAR-1, EVAR-2 and IMPROVE. 

Professor Powell was the chief investigator of the IMPROVE randomised controlled trial, which compared open repair with an endovascular strategy for ruptured AAA. She was also actively involved in vascular disease research until her passing. Alongside Imperial College London colleagues Colin Bicknell and Anna Pouncey, she was co-chief investigator of the ongoing WARRIORS trial—her last research project—which aims to examine early endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in women. 

Professor Powell has been recognised by several societies for her contributions to the vascular field. In 2012, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland (VSGBI), while the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) hosts a named lecture at its annual meeting to honour Powell’s advocacy of evidence-based medicine. She also received the ESVS prize for best paper (student N Rudarakanchana) (2013) and gave the British Journal of Surgery Lecturer at Vascular Surgy Society Annual Meeting (2017).

Professor Powell was an associate editor for the European Journal of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery and was on the editorial board of Circulation and ATVB.

Colin Bicknell, Professor of Vascular Surgery at Imperial's Department of Surgery and Cancer, shared: “I think it is true to say that we are all in shock at the sudden announcement of Janet’s passing. Janet delivered numerous trials over the years and has unquestionably changed the way that every vascular surgeon in the world practises daily. Not many can claim that accolade.

“She has been a mentor to me and countless others, a role that she took so very seriously, building a cohort of researchers for the future. I and everyone will miss her every day, but I hope we can make her proud in delivering vascular trials in the future to practise evidence-based medicine in the way she taught us.”

Alun Davies, Professor of Vascular Surgery at Imperial's Department of Surgery and Cancer, shared: “Janet wasa  delightful colleague with an international reputation, with whom I had worked for 30 years. She was adored by all her colleagues and students. She also had a unique long-term research collaboration with Roger Greenhalgh. Janet will be sadly missed.”

Professor Powell is survived by her son Duncan (46) and daughter Tamsin (48), as well as five grandchildren.

This article was adapted from an Obituary in Vascular News